Opening Ceremonies Concert- olympics 2012

The next best thing to the actual Opening Ceremonies: The Opening Ceremonies Concert at Hyde Park!

Doors (or gates as it were) opened at 4:00, and I was concerned about London being flooded wtih people Friday night for opening ceremonies- but  it really wasn't bad at all! The tube was a bit squishy for my taste- so I decided to just walked from Victoria Station.

The rings hanging from Tower Bridge

 London has done a great job with transportation and signage!  Everything is super accessible, and they've posted pink signs for Olympic destinations making it ridiculously easy (even for someone with my severe lack of direction) to get around.

The lineup for the concert was: Paolo Nutini, Duran Duran, Stereophonics, and Snow Patrol. (in that order)  They also arranged for the Opening Ceremonies to be broadcast on the big screen between performances!

Duran Duran and Snow Patrol were the "headliners" but I have to say- Paolo Nutini stole the show!  He was amazing!  He did two of his older songs, and the rest were new- WOW!  Definitely more mature than his last album- a little bluesy- He killed it- and the new scruff in his voice mixed with that Scottish accent-MEOW!

Duran Duran basically played a greatest hits show, which was really fun for the crowd- everyone was dancing and having a sing-along!

Stereophonics- well, I was underwhelmed.  They had quite the following of people that left as soon as they were done playing, but I just couldn't get on board.  The music itself was OK, but the lyrics....it's as if they flipped through a "top pop hits" book and pieced together the lyrics. 

Example: "Every little thing you do is magic lately- Every single thing that you do is cool"

Yeah, I wasn't buying it.

Snow Patrol sounded great, and played their most popular songs, "Chasing Cars", "Run", etc.  They put on a great show and the crowd was totally into it.  I must say that they sound really good live, and are composed of some serious musicians!

After the concer, Hyde Park is open free of charge to watch events on the Big Screen!

Amidst all the amazing music the screen would come down and bits of the Opening Ceremonies were played.  I truly thought the best vibe of the evening was being surrounded by a giant crowd all watching the same thing.  I know there has been mixed reactions to the strange "history lesson" that ensued during the Opening Ceremonies, but I truly enjoyed it.  Of course, this may be due to the fact that I was surrounded by people from the UK.  Watching different people light up when their country/ region was represented was truly moving.  There was an old man in front of me that teared up as they honored the Welsh, and another man took off his shirt revealing a full back tattoo with the Scottish flag as they sang their anthem.

Then there was the crowd reaction when they honored the NHS, Mary Poppins style.  Sheer and utter confusion.  The hysterical laughs and aahhhs when the Queen appeared on screen with James Bond!

Overall it was an awesome kick-off to the games, and a great way to catch the vibe that is the Olympic Spirit!  There is a certain energy that is shared when you're watching an event with a crowd that is not something you can get through the television, or in a newspaper article.  I love it!

Cheers to the Olympics, and no sleep until August 12th!

GO WORLD!